For the Love of A Small Child
by Raose
Summary: The defining moments of Naruto's life through different eyes. Starts with the day of October the tenth as seen through Kyuubi's and Minato's eyes.
1. Destiny's Call

For the Love of A Small Child

Fate: Raose Does Not Own.

Destiny: Good thing too.

Raose: Hush…. Sorry.

Fate: This idea was just too interesting to pass up writing.

Destiny: To those reading her other stories, Raose has not abandoned them… she just needs to find the 30 or so pages of writing she's done and type it up.

Raose: Chatter boxes… anywho. The flow of this story may seem a bit weird, just thought I'd warn ya.

Fate: (clears throat to sound like a newscaster) And now for the Summary, Destiny.

Destiny: (also attempting to sound like a newscaster) Thank you Fate. For today's story we follow the moments of Naruto's life through the eyes of those who made sacrifices to be near our dear blue eyed cutie…

Raose (hits both Fate and Destiny with a large frying pan) Shut up and let them read!

_Kyuubi_

Minato

**Narrator**

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**The Moment of Destiny's Call**

_I walk a slow determined path, the calling is getting louder. The voice that needs me, to be there, to protect, to love…. I'm coming, not out of love or compassion, but to silence that calling. Nine months of silent pleas, whispered beckons… and now the voice is getting louder, always louder. _

_It's a walk to be sure, but for one such as me it's taken but moments. I've passed over field of grass and through the lands of sand. My kindred have a place in these parts, more of my Chakra brothers, held captive by the insects calling themselves humans. They are insignificant, so little chakra, so little potential. One day my brethren shall be free of these cages and together the nine of us shall reclaim these lands. But my goal today has nothing to do with reforging old ties with weaker brethren. It has everything to do with silencing that annoying voice._

_Trees, lots and lots of trees….oh look Insects and they wanna play! I roar in a fiery warning. They just don't care much…like I said insects. And they're throwing… toys at me? What…oh those are what they call weapons, useless against one such as me. I swipe lazily at the awkward and frightened bunch in front of me and grin humorlessly as the die where they land. Pitiful. Now to get rid of that voice._

I have a son… a precious child that I'll protect always. He's sleeping in a soft bed of blankets in a back office while my wife recovers from childbirth. It's been a rough day for everyone.

"Grrrrrrwwwwwllllll."

"Wha..." I utter before the ground shakes. Sarutobi and a pair of Anbu burst through the door as a second set of Anbu drop in through the open window. I look from the old man to the window and then past my guards to the enormous fox looking in my direction. The Anbu shift about like inexperienced Genin and look past me to Sarutobi unsure of how to relay the news or speak at all in the face of such a beast. Their nervousness sets Sarutobi in motion and he's soon at my side.

"Dears Gods…is that? Is it looking at us?" Sarutobi whispers in complete awe and fear. I feel it too. Who would be unafraid in the presence of such a beast? Sarutobi runs one almost steady hand over his eyes before focusing on the beast again. The monster is definitely looking in our direction with an evil snarl. I feel the Anbu gurads flex their muscles and reach instinctively for their weapons.

"Gather all the ninja available. I want the Teachers and the Genin escorting the civilians to hiding immediately. Everyone else I want to meet me at the front lines. We have a hard battle on our hands." I order with a steady, emotionless voice. That beast wants something here, but what? The monster sweeps one of it's enormous tails against the tops of the trees and sets the forest ablaze. Sarutobi frowns and looks to the hospital as though wondereing how to protect the injured inside.

He need not have worried, all the ninja's inside had ignored the medical staff, at least the medical staff that had stayed behind, and raced to fight for their village. I covered my eyes and held my tears in check as I watched my wife race towards the beast. No Anbu, beast, or ninja want to face my Kushina when she's angry. I fear though that this will be my last glance of my loving wife, she's weak already and that beast seems intent on coming here. "I'm going to fight as well Yondaime, you should stay…"

"What my son when this is over. Sarutobi… protect him, honor him, treat him like the Hero he is…don't… don't let my son, my Naruto, suffer alone." I whisper, the words strained and bitter as they flow from my mouth. I walk to the door, not intending to say more, but…. I still have to hear him say the words that will make this easier. "Sandaime-sama, protect my son…. He's the most precious thing in the world to me. Protect him, love him, and tell him about me and my Kushina. Promise me?"

"I promise, he'll know of you and your wife, his parents…" Sarutobi whispered, tears leaking from his eyes. He wants to say more, but I leave hoping the words will one day be told to my son…and maybe my wife will hear them. I race to the nursery and look in at my son. I set up candles quietly to surround my little boy and draw a design on his stomach. I can feel mine tighten as nausea threatens… I stop and stare at the sleeping newborn boy and sink to my knees at his side…I can't…

_Insects are multiplying…Damn them. Just leave so I can get to the calling voice. It needs me…I can feel its urgency, It's dying…. Concern, am I feeling concern for an annoyance. I, oh hells fire, I am concerned. I shouldn't have come, but that voice has reached a piece of me I didn't want to remember, the part that feels more than blind, indiscriminate hatred. The voice that calls to me is powerful in its quiet whisperings. How anyone could deny that voice anything I shall never know. I, a beast above these insects, have been pulled here by its insistence, its urgent need._

_Now Move! Stupid, blind insects think they can stop me, the Kyuubi from my intended goal. I think not. I swipe my tail across the ground and grin at the extinguished human lives. It's almost a delight to see them die like this, but that voice, the quiet whisper is begging. Not for me anymore, but for the people I hurt. He wants it to stop, the destruction, the death, the pain…I'll consider it._

_I am not the kind to back down, but the voice needs me to do just that. The casualties are being carried away, at least the ones still recognizable as human insects. I want to laugh at their effort, but my attention is almost solely focused on the voice from somewhere in the little village. The tower I think. Is it possible that my voice is there, waiting, watching. I've hesitated long enough. I will rescue my voice and take it safely away from this accursed village. _

_…Huh…_

_Is that….a giant toad? And a miniscule insect? Huh….._

_He seems intent on fighting, but… my voice. I look over the human and gaze longingly at the tower, and my voice seems to be screaming at me, 'Not him. Not Him please!' I snap hesitantly at the figure, and it doesn't waver, in fact it attacks… and the attack actually hurts. How?_

_I may like this human…if I let him live… my voice wants him, so I will unless he insists on keeping me from what is mine. He's persistent… and intent on something. I can feel the small amount of Chakra the human possesses swell and expand. Something…someone is forming behind the human making the tiny creature weep openly. I stare curiously and wonder at the tall human. "You are?"_

_The human seems to have an answer on the tip of his dying tongue, so I stare intently at him but he can say nothing. His entire focus is on me and the human behind him. Slowly my gaze drifts back to my voice, and I can hear him, not just in my head anymore, crying. Shock passes over my face, I'm sure, and the tiny human smiles weakly. I then notice that my strength, my chakra is flowing away, towards the infant that called me here. I glance back at the humans and a smile passes over my features._

There's something intimately frightening about knowing the exact moment and reason one's going to die. It I look into the beasts red eyes and feel nothing even as it seems to growl at me. I hear nothing, I feel nothing, I am becoming nothing. My son is going to suffer because I wasn't strong enough. I should have found another way, any other way. Couldn't I have found some other child, why mine?

I'm crying, open and unashamed. I've condemned my own flesh and blood. This beast will slowly destroy what good my son may have done. I'm ripping his destiny from his hands before he even has a chance to understand, to live, to love… to be loved. The tears flow faster as my life ebbs away, but the jutsu is working. The beast will be contained, and I will have done my duty by my village, yet failed my son.

_Interesting human… I would have liked him… My voice, my Kit I'm coming to protect you_

Naruto, I'm sorry

**The two combating forces closed their eyes as one and felt the inevitable occur. They were no more, a spirit, and an imprisoned Chakra beast. The moment stretched impossibly long until one thought filtered through their essences. **

**'Destiny's call, welcome.'**


	2. Unwanted Burden

Top of Form

For the Love of A Small Child

Fate: Raose still fails to own Naruto.

Destiny: And is now woefully behind…

Raose: Hush…. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

_Kyuubi_

Narrator

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**Unwelcome Burden**

**'**Minato is gone.'

Sarutobi looks around the office filled with the young Hokage's presence. The promise his ascension into the top spot within the village seemed to layer everything. His varied scrolls littered the floor in varied stages of completion. Pictures of his wife and his first genin team lined the top of his bookshelves, none of which seemed to be used for actual books. The other shelves contained various weapons or baby toys for the small child Minato had been waiting for. The younger man had been so eager and happy at the prospect he'd tried unsuccessfully to convince his wife, and staff, that it was imperative for her and the baby to stay close to him. The bed he'd arranged to have brought in had mysteriously been shipped to a vacant apartment on the poorer side of town. Sarutobi could still remember the orange floral pattern Minato had picked out in hopes of enticing his wife to stay in his office. She'd talked him into a rocking chair and cradle instead.

Settled in the corner in a safe defendable position a small orange baby cradle rested next to a hand carved rocking chair. Minato had secretly sent his team out to procure to two items from his wife's home town. Kakashi, intent on teasing the older man, had looked for something he knew would stand out and had happily purchased the orange cradle. Fortunately Rin had insisted that Kushina receive a better gift. Sarutobi walked over to the cradle with a sad smile and rested a hand on the small bed. The cradle would have to be removed eventually, sent wherever Naruto ended up in the end. He'd left the child in the care of his daughter for the moment, but there were plenty of volunteers looking to take him in. Sarutobi frowned, he hadn't even seen the boy yet, in fact, most of the village had yet to lay eyes on the heir of the Yondaime.

"Sensei, we've found Kushina-sama's body." A soft voice whispered from the window. Sarutobi turned to stare sorrowfully at Jiraiya. Sensing his teacher's sorrow Jiraiya stepped down from the window ledge. "Sensei?"

The question hung in the air for a long moment before Sarutobi walked back to his desk. He laid a hand gently on the younger man's shoulder before he settled in the chair behind his desk. Until things settled within the village the elders had asked him to step into the post he'd so recently passed on to his successor and friend. They'd need a new Hokage but that would have to wait until the dead were laid to rest and the village was on its way to recovery.

_Ung….wha… What happened? _

_Where?_

_I can't stop the growl from turning into a howl of rage. My body feels heavy and incomplete…. Trapped in a way I've never been before. The air around me is shaking with an emotion I've felt once before…grief. Confused I stop my howling….how can the ground shake with grief? With any emotion? Where under the stars am I? …. Where are the stars?_

Naruto squirmed I his cradle before blinking open his blue eyes. A soft lullaby drifted through the nursery and Naruto placed his thumb in his mouth and slipped back to sleep. The singing gradually rose in volume as the singer carried her own child into the room. She placed her three year old son in his bed and tucked him in. The song paused momentarily while she placed a kiss on her son's forehead. She stopped by Naruto's crib and ran her fingers gentle across his pale cheek.

_Bars…BARS! ON ME! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM! I ram the bars once more, disgusted by the single paper holding me captive. A single petty piece of paper, able to cage me, I think not! I will break out. I am not to be caged. Thousands have tried, and I've never remained captive! I will kill you all! Ramming the gate again I feel it give a little and grin triumphantly. I'm stronger than the rest._

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Jiraiya perched atop the fourth's head as he surveyed the damage done to Konoha. The fire had been put out, but not before it had taken its toll on the land. The charred grounds stretched from just inside the Hyuga compound to the middle of the poor side. Many of the houses were little more than rubble while others stood untouched within the destruction zone. But the fire had been a small part of the tragedy. The search parties were now slowing down as less and less bodies were found.

Ten days had passed since the Kyuubi's violent assault and Jiraiya still felt the heat of the beast on his skin. He could still see those tails igniting his home and slaying his comrades. Even the beast's eyes seemed to haunt him whenever he closed his eyes. The raw destruction and the flaring anger within the village seemed to pull the air form his lungs. Struggling to adjust, to breath, Jiraiya listened. He, like all within his home, sought someone to take the blame. To be held accountable for the beast arriving unannounced on their doorstep, and worse for stealing their family, friends, and leader. His eyes drifted to the Hokage tower where his teacher worked endless hours. He knew the older man hadn't left the tower even to visit his shaken family. His son-in-law was among those to be laid to rest the next day.

"Too many lives," Jiraiya whispered to the wind as he pulled himself to his feet. Jiraiya turned away from the village as the wind swirled around him. It pulled at his clothes, slowly increasing in strength, as though beckoning him to return to the village. He ignored the pulling and slowly walked away from his home, turning his back on everything, even the child he'd come originally returned to see. He paused once as he thought of Minato's son. He'd never heard his name, or seen his face. 'Can I leave without having at least seen him?'

Jiraiya brushed aside the thought, knowing that if he were to see the boy he may never again have the strength needed to leave Konoha. The wind seemed enraged by his refusal to return to Konoha and as the Frog Hermit disappeared unnoticed the wind raced. Within the village windows rattled violently, waking any light sleepers. The homeless cowered closer together to escape the biting cold even as their feeble shelters were torn asunder around them. Within the Hokage tower Sarutobi looked up from his list of candidates, an ominous feeling flowing into his old bones.

Slowly Sarutobi stood and looked out the window, watching the rushing wind try to rip the trees from the ground. The violent wind didn't last long before it was replaced by a rain shower. Soothing as the rain usually was for Sarutobi he couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong. He shook his head and looked around the office. He hadn't changed anything about the room yet. He wasn't' sure what to do with the Yondaime's possessions as his heir was still just an infant. Slowly Sarutobi walked from the room, spared an irate glare for the small pile of boxes waiting for Minato's belongings, and turned to leave the building. Passing his crying secretary Sarutobi said, "I'm leaving Yuki-san. You should go home and rest."

Yuki nodded and Sarutobi left the building. He felt the familiar presence of Anbu following his every footstep and had the sudden childish urge to ditch his protectors for a few hours to himself. He stifled the urge and walked through the thick curtain of rain to see how his daughter was handling the grief of losing one's soul mate.

_Water…this is all I get for my effort… a drizzle of water? I won't accept this. How did it come to this? Eyes closed, tails twitching occasionally, I let my mind wander through the memories of my life. It's a long life, but I don't need every moment, just the last before I was came to be beneath this starless sky. _

_There was a voice, innocent in its desperation. How did this soundless voice come to me? Where from…? That village. I went, to silence it, yes but I couldn't. It needed me… why? Not important. What brought me here? That man on his _frog_, it had to be. None of the other insects even scratched me, but him, I felt his attacks, powerful and swift. He was an interesting insect... I might have liked him. _

_Now what happened, I was pulled apart, away… Ripped form my form, and sent to another, by that an? No by the God behind him. I knew that figure, but how did a weak mortal find a way to summon him forth. He must be dead, but not I, He must've sought to seal me, but the dead cannot hold the might of one such as I!_

_Then where am I? It seems impossible for him to have succeeded in sealing me away, but wait. I was not pulled towards him, but to another. HE sealed me in some INSIGNIFICANT! I CANNOT accept this. He died to seal me, to keep me from my intended goal. I SHALL not be kept!_

_Rage, pure and simple flooded my system. I can feel it seeking an escape, and roar to the starless sky._

Sarutobi felt the Anbu land beside him as together they raced into the house. In passing he saw his daughter and grandson staring at him the sitting room, but his concern was elsewhere. The nursery pulsed with the evil aura of the Kyuubi. Naruto's cry reached his ears moments before his hand touched the door leading to the nursery. Without thought he pushed into the room and stopped short. His Anbu barely kept themselves from falling into their leader as they scanned the room. They'd felt certain they'd felt Kyuubi's presence, now though there was nothing. Sarutobi's soft command was obeyed without hesitation, "Find Kyuubi."

As soon as the Anbu disappeared Sarutobi walked over to Naruto's crib. His hands, which had been ready to scoop up the crying infant, froze inches from him. When Naruto reached out wildly and brushed against Sarutobi's skin the Sandaime pulled away as though burned. His daughter and grandson watched from the doorway as the old man took one shaky step away from the boy named Naruto. His voice sounded weak and ill used as he whispered, "Kyuubi."

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_My voice…the man sent me to my voice…. Why? Did he know why I came, that I came to kill this voice? How could he, an insect? Is it possible that he knew why I came when even I was unsure? Or was it some other's design? Something beyond even my ability to fight, to predict? Can it be this was My mortal?_

Sarutobi gazed at the now occupied cradle. His daughter had refused to look after the 'beast' that had killed her husband and friends nearly fifteen days ago. He couldn't blame her. He didn't want the youth in this office. Minato's sacrifice, had this been what he meant? Had he known that his son would become the evil that he fought to save Konoha? It was impossible.

Quietly Sarutobi placed another scroll in the box at his feet. His secretary had offered to remove the items so he could continue the search for his next replacement, but he'd needed the break. Minato had been the only choice he could see when he retired two years ago. The thought of finding a replacement for the young war hero broke his heart and he dropped the scroll he was holding. It slowly rolled across the floor, details of another jutsu the young genius had been working on. Sarutobi frowned as he slowly rerolled the scroll so he could pack it properly. His frown deepened when he realized that the jutsu was actually completed. Lazily he settled on the carpet and read through the scroll.

When he finished looking at the scroll for the tenth time Sarutobi looked over at Naruto. Standing he walked over to the cradle. Cautiously he picked up the infant and settle on the unused rocking chair. Rocking gently Sarutobi studied the baby he held cautiously in his arms. Soft golden fuzz was just visible on the baby's head and his small form seemed innocent and harmless, just like every baby he'd ever seen. The baby's soft blue eyes were hidden while he slept peacefully. Softly Sarutobi whispered, "Baby Naruto Uzamaki… Your father knew. He made you this way, not to be hated or feared, but o protect everyone he held dear, even you. Minato may have never had the chance to know you, but his wish for you to live, I shall keep that alive. For now, you shall stay with me, until we can find you a home. You will have one, little one, I give you my word."

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One Month Later

"It seems the whole village knows, and no one will take in the child. In fact I have this for you sir." Yuki said as she held out a thick stack of paper. Sarutobi glanced at it and frowned at the lines of signatures. He glanced up at Yuki and she frowned, "When I say the whole village, I regret to say everyone has signed the petition to have him… well, to have him killed. No one wants him in Konoha."


End file.
